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Leveling the Astroturf Playing Field

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure Thomas Jefferson never said, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the Astroturf of corporations and corporate lobbyists.” Right-wing opponents of health-care reform, however, seem to disagree. If you haven’t heard by now how democratic debate about health care is being disrupted in a systematic way by “Astroturf” activism—in this case, brainwashed foot soldiers taking their cues from corporate lobbyists and other groups tight with the insurance industry—I suggest you watch the Rachel Maddow segment here and read the commentary on it by John Amato at Crooks and Liars. The condensed version of the problem is that a disturbing pattern has emerged all across the country of town-hall meetings on health-care reform being hijacked by thuggish anti-government ideologues. Mention the words “single payer” or “regulation” when it’s your turn to speak or ask a question of your Congressman and you’re liable to get shouted down by some asshole obeying instructions on how to “dominate” the debate and “throw off” the opposition. As Maddow describes, one Texas Congressman even had to be escorted out of such a forum after a coordinated attack on him turned menacing. And there’s no shortage of documentation demonstrating that this behavior is being encouraged by directives from D.C.-based lobbyists and others representing corporate interests.The Astroturf trend really turned into a full-fledged phenomenon at the so-called Tea Party rallies staged around the country in response to—well, in response to a somewhat incoherent hodgepodge of objections to the bailout, the stimulus, tax policy, and the race of our president back in April. Back then, my response to the phenomenon was one of amusement more than anything else. If people want to take their beliefs and their cues from right-wing think tanks and corporate interests, fine—that’s their prerogative, if you ask me, however pathetic and ill-considered it may be. We all get our ideas from somewhere. (It was certainly legitimate, however, for people to ask whether the media was addressing the artificial aspects of these protests.) But when things turn nasty, and these “activists” start obeying talking points telling them to harass people with different viewpoints and disrupt town-hall debates, that’s when their tactics become detrimental to democracy.

It’s clear that Astroturf activism is here to stay with us as a strategy of the right. The question is, how do reasonable people respond? How does one level the Astroturf playing field?